Son of FALN Bombing Victim: Puerto Rican Day Parade Honors Killer

New York's National Puerto Rican Day Parade delivered a stunning slap to terror victims by honoring a jailed felon who led the F.A.L.N., says Joe Connor, whose father was killed in the infamous Fraunces Tavern bombing.

Connor, now an anti-terrorism activist, says the parade feted Oscar Lopez-Rivera, now behind bars for seditious conspiracy, force to commit robbery, and interstate transportation of firearms and ammunition to aid in the commission of a felony in an unrelated case.

His father, Frank Connor, was killed in a January 1975 explosion which the F.A.L.N. — the Armed Forces of Puerto Rican National Liberation — took credit for. Lopez, who headed the group, was never prosecuted in the bombing.

"Oscar Lopez [is] considered now some sort of cause célèbre by the left. He is a terrorist … the leader of the FALN, who blew up about 120 bombs in the U.S.,'' Connor told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"He was honored as a freedom fighter, as … a Puerto Rican patriot [in the parade].''

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Adding insult to injury, according to Connor, was New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the first Puerto Rican to hold a citywide elected position.

New York's National Puerto Rican Day Parade delivered a stunning slap to terror victims by honoring a jailed felon who led the F.A.L.N., says Joe Connor, whose father was killed in the infamous Fraunces Tavern bombing.